in the lead wig-wagged his lantern; it was
answered by the light in the rear, and the next minute the old rear
song,--

"Ip-e-la-ago, go 'long little doggie,
You 'll make a beef-steer by-and-by,"--

reached us riders in the swing, and we knew the rear guard of cattle
was being pushed forward. The distance between the swing men gradually
narrowed in our lead, from which we could tell the leaders were being
held in, until several times cattle grazed out from the herd, due to
the checking in front. At this juncture Flood galloped around the herd
a second time, and as he passed us riding along our side, I appealed
to him to let them go in front, as it now required constant riding to
keep the cattle from leaving the trail to graze. When he passed up the
opposite side, I could distinctly hear the men on that flank making a
similar appeal, and shortly afterwards the herd loosened out and we
struck our old gait for several hours.

Trailing by moonlight was a novelty to all of us, and in the stillness
of those splendid July nights we could hear the point men chatting
across the lead in front, while well in the rear, the rattling of our
heavily loaded wagon and the whistling of the horse wrangler to his
charges reached our ears. The swing men were scattered so far apart
there was no chance for conversation amongst us, but every once in a
while a song would be started, and as it surged up and down the line,
every voice, good, bad, and indifferent, joined in. Singing is
supposed to have a soothing effect on cattle, though I will vouch for
the fact that none of our Circle Dots stopped that night to listen to
our vocal efforts. The herd was traveling so nicely that our foreman
hardly noticed the passing hours, but along about midnight the singing
ceased, and we were nodding in our saddles and wondering if they in
the lead were never going to throw off the trail, when a great
wig-wagging occurred in front, and presently we overtook The Rebel,
holding the lantern and turning the herd out of the trail. It was then
after midnight, and within another half hour we had the cattle bedded
down within a few hundred yards of the trail. One-hour guards was the
order of the night, and as soon as our wagon and saddle horses came
up, we stretched ropes and caught out our night horses. These we
either tied to the wagon wheels or picketed near at hand, and then we
sought our blankets for a few hours' sleep. It was half past three in
the